Historic Trinco Sivan Temple Chariot festival held

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 July 2005, 01:21 GMT]
The annual "THER" festival of the four-century-old historic Sri Visvanathaswami (Sivan) Temple in Trincomalee was held Tuesday morning after about twenty-two years in a newly constructed thirty-three feet tall chariot. The trial run of the new chariot buit at a cost of Rs 4 million was held Monday morning.


The earlier chariot used by the temple was burnt down in the 1983 July pogrom by the government security forces. Since then a temporary structure was used during the chariot festival, sources said.

In July 1983 a group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Navy stationed in the Naval Headquarters in the east port town forcibly opened the main gate of the Naval Dockyard defying the order of the then Naval Officer In Command (NOIC) and ran berserk in the town burning down shops, houses of Tamil people and Hindu temples.

They also set fire to the chariot of Sivan temple and its parking structure.

Two brothers Mr.Gunabalasingham Chandramohan and Mr Chandraruban of Kamalayalayam Kalaikoodam constructed the chariot according to Hindu scriptures. They brought expert sculptors from South India for this project, sources said.

A souvenir was released Monday to mark the occasion of trial run of the new chariot. Trincomalee district parliamentarians Mr.R.Sampanthan and Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham praised the sculptors Mr.Chandramohan and Mr.Chandraruban for resurrecting the chariot and revitalizing the temple festival.